World War II Teaching Resources
Eyewitness interviews, lesson plans, and other resources to help students discover the history of World War II and the conflict's lasting impact.
- Grades: PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12
A War Around the World
Learn about WWII through the stories of those who witnessed it firsthand. This student activity includes the story of Nazi Germany and Anne Frank, the attack on Pearl Harbor, life in America during the war, and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Students explore the theme of heroes with this riveting collection of true tales of soldiers in World War II.
This article from Scholastic GO! explains the political and economic climate, as well as the actions of involved parties, that resulted in World War II.
Learn about the events of the 1930s that led up to the start of World War II in this article from Scholastic GO!.
In the early years of the war, Germany swept through western Europe and threatened the Mediterranean. Learn more about the war's early years in Europe and North African in this article from Scholastic GO!.
Read about the war in the Near East, North Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean in this Scholastic GO! article.
This article from Scholastic GO! explains how the Axis powers threatened North Africa and the USSR.
Get a list of facts about the social and economic effects of World War II.
A teaching plan for the book by Stephen E. Ambrose, which brings to life the horrific and heroic stories of World War II.
The American Home Front
Learn about the Manhattan Project, the code name for the U.S. effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb.
Students will learn about the important roles of women in the United States during World War II with the help of this informational video from Scholastic Scope.
Read about America's early engagement in World War II and how its allies organized themselves against the Axis powers in this article from Scholastic GO!.
Bring the turbulent times of America's Great Depression and WWII to life for your students through the up-close and personal lens of historical fiction. Text-dependent comprehension questions and CCSS connections are sure to stimulate further study.
Use these discussion questions and after-reading activities with My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island, New York, 1941 to teach students about World War II on the American home front.
Students get an intimate view of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor by reading a witness interview, browsing a timeline, and more.
The guide for this nonfiction series features classroom activities and specific text-based examples for teaching to the Common Core State Standards.
Find literature circle questions, a book summary, and author information for Harry Mazer's A Boy No More, which follows fifteen-year-old Adam Pelko as his family moves from Hawaii to California after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
These discussion questions and after-reading activities accompany The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp, California, 1942 by Barry Denenberg.
The letters which are at the core of the book Dear Miss Breed provide readers with an eyewitness account of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II.
Use these discussion questions and student activities after reading Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii, 1941, which tells the fictional story of twelve-year-old Amber's move to Hawaii and her first-person account of the Japanese attack.
The War in Europe
Online activities, lesson plans, discussion guides, and book lists that explore the tragedy of the Holocaust.
Books, films, websites, and teaching ideas that introduce students to one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century.
The Allied invasion of France's Normandy region during World War II began on June 6, 1944 and landed about 1 million troops by July 1.
Discusses Germany's Blitzkrieg, a method of fast-moving, air-and-land warfare first used extensively during World War II.
Research the German V-1 unmanned flying bomb, or buzz bomb, used in World War II
In The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: A World War II Soldier, Normandy, France, 1944 by Walter Dean Myers, Scott Collins grapples with many questions about the war. This discussion guide provides engaging activities related to the book that will help students learn more about World War II.